Biohybrid Entities for Environmental Monitoring

In the wake of climate change and water quality crisis, it is crucial to find novel ways to extensively monitor the environment and to detect ecological changes early. Biomonitoring has been found to be an effective way of observing the aggregate effect of environmental fluctuations. In this paper, we outline the development of biohybrids which will autonomously observe simple organisms (microorganisms, algae, mussels etc.) and draw conclusions about the state of the water body. These biohybrids will be used for continuous environmental monitoring and to detect sudden (anthropologically or ecologically catastrophic) events at an early stage. Our biohybrids are being developed within the framework of project Robocoenosis, where the operational area planned are Austrian lakes. Additionally, we discuss the possible use of various species found in these waters and strategies for biomonitoring. We present early prototypes of devices that are being developed for monitoring of organisms.